My heart and prayers go out to all of you, my fellow pain-sufferers!! My name is Jim, 67 years old, with an intractable level of chronic pain in my lower lumbar region - my constant companion 24/7. No visible evidence of any sort of trauma to lower back, so I suspect that the degeneration of discs, vertebrae, and the spinal bundle is the result of my active duty in the Marine Corps. I was stationed at Camp Lejeune for 6 months in 1975 and drank/bathed in the incredibly, highly polluted water in the base wells - VOCs (volatile organic compounds) such as tetrachloroethylene & trichloroethylene, benzene, and a number of other chemicals which are lethal to the human body in quantity. Other health issues associated with the water pollution are heart problems (AFib, HBP, elevated heart rate) and a damaged liver with associated abdominal ascites, foot & leg edema and hyper ammonium (all resolved except the need to purge ammonia from my body daily. Took opioids continually since 1985 for back pain and was forced to cut my USMC service obligations after 18.5 years and received a token disability rating. VA continued to treat my pain with opioids and the dosage level climbed to daily levels of 400 mgs MS Contin (morphine sulphate) sustained release (oral meds - 4x100mg tabs) and 60 mgs MS Contin immediate release (for breakthrough pain - 2x30mg tabs). In 2016, the VA announced discontinuation of all opioid meds due to "war on opioids." I initiated my own taper, completing it in less than half the time the VA gave me to quit the meds prescribed me. Too much to type about the heart/liver issues, but my current situation with no longer receiving further opioid medications is because of liver damage so I have to mention. Over the years, I have been subjected to numerous ineffective operations (open back surgery for L4~L5 fusion, more micro-surgeries than I can remember at the moment), numerous injections of steroids, radio-frequency ablation of 8 medial nerves (both sides at L1~L5), electrical stimulators, transdermal patches, everything that is/was available. Currently have an intrathecal pump embedded in my lower left abdomen with a catheter inserted into my spinal sac somewhere at the C4~C7 level to provide a very tiny flow (measured in hundredths of micrograms) of fentanyl into my spinal fluid. My pain clinic titrated upward until they refused to go any further, but I have yet to feel any relief, so clinic recommended that I try other opioids. I tried morphine in the pump without any noticeable pain reduction, so I was forced to start looking for other solutions as of today. I had the pump turned to its lowest trickle level and left the clinic. My last option is getting Ketamine infusions, but after learning about the procedures and out-of-pocket costs, I find them to be something that could very well turn into an unwelcome necessity every month or two - not for me.

Drs. (military, VA, and civilian/private practice) will no longer consider oral, IM, or IV opioids because of uncertainty of liver health. I do not know what to do at this time as the opioids help make the pain more tolerable and nothing else works. Without the masking of this incredible pain, I cannot enjoy any kind of life, I have no mobility due to the pain, and am unable to get out of the house because I can't get past this pain to maneuver my wheelchair onto the transport trailer.

It has been a 35+ year journey for me, and I have not yet found acceptable relief. Has anyone experienced this type of pain in the lower back? If so, how do you handle it? Solutions? I haven't read many posts yet, but I intend to, and if I can provide any helpful information from my experiences, I will do so.

Thanks, - Jim